


One Day Aboard Retribution

by Paraxdisepink



Category: Hornblower (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Live Kennedy Universe, M/M, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-21
Updated: 2013-03-21
Packaged: 2017-12-06 00:01:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/729385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paraxdisepink/pseuds/Paraxdisepink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Semi-fluff. A spyglass, a deck shower, and Horatio in trouble.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Day Aboard Retribution

Archie was willing to admit that he had climbed _Retribution_ 's  
rigging simply because Horatio had expressly forbidden it. He had become  
overbearing of late, forbidding Archie from doing this or that on account of  
his wound, failing to accept that two months of rest and the crossing into  
cooler weather had quite the healing effect on a man. No matter, the instant  
Horatio disappeared below decks Archie pulled himself aloft, a defiant thrill  
in his blood as he did so.

He perched in the mizzen top, only a little out of breath from his climb. His limbs no longer tingled with that nagging weakness and his side no longer ached. He still grew cold easily, however, The wind was icy up here, and he knew he could not expect any sympathy from Horatio later when the chill still lingered in his skin. 

Yet Archie was content to stay. The cold air cleared his head of the malaise of lying down. He had always liked heights; sitting up here watching the ship and the rolling water was a first element of normality in weeks. Smiling, Archie breathed in the salt air, finally feeling halfway alive again. 

The scene only remained peaceful for a few moments, however. The hands began gathering round the sea pump on the deck below just as Horatio's voice carried through the air, commanding if not a trifle impatient. Archie peered down to watch him come up the hatch. His mouth fell open despite himself. Horatio was stark naked! 

It was clear enough what he planned to do. The men set to work at the pump, taking up their places and rolling up their sleeves to heave with both hands. One of them had the hose already, laughing with the others. 

A familiar sizzle rushed through Archie's blood as Horatio stepped into the sunlight. His body was so lean and fine, not to mention tempting - unforgivably tempting. Archie gritted his teeth with both hunger and vexation; he had not touched the bare flesh displayed so casually there on deck for weeks now. 

It was his wound. Horatio would not lay a hand on him. Oh, Horatio might offer a kiss in the dark of his sleeping cabin or wrap his arms around him and mutter something uncharacteristically tender about his being alive, but he always drew away before anything could stir between them. He was scared, and that reluctance began to grow bothersome as Archie found himself in growing more energetic. 

"Bothersome" was no longer the appropriate word. Archie was _bothered_ , truly, an itching, randy warmth under his skin as he drank in the sight below, but more importantly he was outright vexed that Horatio expected him to stay in bed below while he pranced about making a delicious spectacle of himself. 

The men continued to grunt and laugh as they pumped the water through the hose. Horatio laughed too, catching the spray on his skin. Archie wished he were closer that he might follow the droplets of water with his eyes. He was in luck, however; he glanced up to see one of the midshipmen coming down from the crosstrees. 

"Might I borrow your glass?" Archie called out to the shy, dark-haired boy. 

The lad did not hesitate, but handed over his telescope as he slid down onto the platform beside him. Aiming the thing, Archie focused on the scene below, narrowing in on Horatio's splendidly bare form. He even blocked the commotion out, intent on the drops of water running down Horatio's back like beads from the constant spray. They rolled down from his shoulders over the smooth skin, slipping over the graceful slope of his backside all the way down to his thighs. 

Warm tingles stirred in Archie's lap at the thought of catching the water with his tongue. It hardly mattered that it would be salty; Horatio could taste pleasant enough, and he could groan and writhe in the most enticing way whenever Archie chose to torment him. But Archie would not stop after lapping the water from Horatio's back; he would turn him over and start on his smooth, hairless chest instead, making his way down to his flat belly and long soft thighs while Horatio watched with his eyes huge and his lips open. 

It had simply been too long since they had been together. Archie was so caught up in his fantasy that he even forgot about the midshipman waiting for his glass. 

** 

Archie was unwilling to allow anyone to see that the climb down had left him sore. He quietly slipped away after Horatio had donned his trousers and shirt there on deck of all places and ordered the men back to work. The only place for Archie to go was back to Retribution's great cabin where he climbed up onto Horatio's bed and took up a book - the same book he had passed the time with for the past five weeks, the only book he had. 

The written word hardly distracted him from the nagging hunger in his body. His thoughts skipped back to the scene on deck again and the urge to touch and be close to Horatio came strong. Everything they had done aboard Renown had been hurried in the darkness while half-dressed. They had not been properly flesh-to-flesh for months. Archie frowned, beginning to think that he was the one who needed a cool hosing down on deck. 

Horatio entered the cabin a few moments later, setting his telescope down at the edge of the bunk. He bent to retrieve his jacket and waistcoat folded atop the seachest, offering a fond half smile at Archie on the bed when he looked up again. 

"Comfortable?" 

Archie grinned ruefully. Since Horatio's little display on deck he had been anything but comfortable. "Bored," he answered lightly, masking his slight irritation that Horatio could ask such a question under the circumstances. "I fear there's little to stimulate a man down here as matters stand." 

The cheerful, easy expression Horatio had worn a moment ago slid away, replaced by something sterner and almost parental. 

"It's imperative that you rest, Archie," he intoned. "You're lucky to be alive." 

There was nothing for it but to smile patiently. Archie lacked the heart to tell Horatio that he behaved like a mother hen at times. "You're right," he conceded. Yet he could not allow Horatio to think that he harbored no hard feelings over the idea of being confined to the cabin while such a diversion took place above. Cocking his head a tad defiantly, Archie narrowed his eyes. "If I were dead then I'd certainly have missed the scene on deck today. Then again, I'd have missed it staying in here as well." 

"Oh for God's sake," Horatio shook his head. He even laughed. But when he realized Archie's vexation was halfway sincere he squared his shoulders and made an effort to defend himself. "It was hardly anything to lament." 

No doubt thinking that his own modesty had settled the matter, he glanced down at himself, making a face when he noticed a spot on his shirt. Throwing his coat and waistcoat back down again, he tugged the linen over his head. A grin crept over Archie's face as he watched Horatio bend down to rummage for a clean shirt in his sea chest. He reached for the glass at the foot of the bunk and, feeling nettlesome, peered at Horatio through the lens just as he had done earlier. 

After retrieving a clean shirt, Horatio straightened, his mouth firming into a hard line and his eyes narrowing. 

"Just what in God's name are you doing?" 

Archie had no choice but to laugh at Horatio's ridiculous expression. Lowering the glass, he waggled an eyebrow at him. "You gave the men a show. I thought you'd come in here to give me mine." 

It took a moment for Horatio to register that his wishes had been circumvented. He stood there indignantly with the clean shirt still in his hand. "You saw." 

The grin had not left Archie's face - Horatio should know by now the pleasure he took in defying him. He brought the glass to his eye again, focusing on Horatio's bare chest and more precisely a soft pink nipple that Archie thought he would like to tease. 

"Will you stop that!" Horatio charged forth to take the glass from him. Archie pretended to relinquish it, but seized his chance once Horatio glanced down at the thing. 

Yanking him by the waist, Archie toppled him onto the bunk. Horatio landed on top of him, holding the edge of the bunk for balance, close enough for Archie to wrap both arms around his neck and keep him there. Heat swept through Archie's body as their eyes met. One hand immediately came up to tangle in Horatio's curls. The weight of him felt so good that it took a moment for Archie to find his tongue, too busy wishing instead that his shirt and coat were not there preventing him from feeling Horatio's skin against his own.. 

"Mounting the rigging provided me with an ample view earlier," he finally managed softly, holding Horatio's thick, dark eyes with his own. "But now there's something else I think I fancy mounting." 

He started to tug Horatio down for a kiss, but somehow he disentangled himself from Archie's arms, rolling onto his back beside him. 

"Archie, will you stop. You'll hurt yourself." 

A scowl immediately crossed Archie's face. He did not want to stop. He wanted to curl closer, bury his face in Horatio's neck, and take in the scent of him. But the stern look Horatio wore said that he would not permit it. 

There was nothing so vexing as being stubbornly denied for your own good. Archie rolled his eyes. "I should punish you," he muttered, aware that he sounded sullen. 

Horatio glared right back at him. "For what? Employing reasonable caution?" 

_Reasonable_. Archie grimaced at the word. There had never been anything reasonable about the two of them tumbling one another into bed when it might cost them their necks. Attraction was not supposed to be reasonable. The idea grew so frustrating that when Horatio rolled over to set his telescope on the stand by the bunk Archie slapped him hard on the arse. 

Horatio whipped back around, sitting upright and staring at him. "What was that for?" 

"So you know where we stand." 

Something changed in Horatio's face. He turned grave at the words, sighing and looking down at his hands. "It's hardly the first time you've thought me an unreasonable fool." 

"Horatio . . ." Sitting up too, Archie laid a hand on his arm. He had not meant for this to turn into yet another excuse for Horatio to flog himself with his own self-hatred. He simply wanted Horatio to accept that he was recovered enough for less than chaste activities. Yet it was true that Horatio's restraint had stung on some level. It came so easily. Had their positions been reversed Archie would never have survived waiting to have him. 

Horatio was not entirely oblivious to the wound he had dealt. He turned and looked at Archie somberly through his thick lashes, frowning; he never could bear disappointing anyone. 

A tensed moment passed before Horatio sighed again and laid a warm hand against Archie's back. 

"I'll have you know I had something of a bad dream," he confessed in that quiet whispery voice matching the intensity that had come into his eyes. "I dreamt I came to you at night and afterward the wound . . . " He made a helpless gesture with his free hand, looking away and closing his eyes. "The surgeon couldn't save you. There was such a quantity of blood that the very notion has left me sick ever since. It's enough that you're here at all right now." 

He looked up again, his face both stubborn and sad, that look that said he would rather punish himself by spending his whole life alone on the other side of the world than risk hurting him. 

Silly Horatio. Archie bit his lip, absently stroking the bare skin of Horatio's arm. It would be just like him to fear such a thing. In his mind Horatio already believed he had caused him enough damage, somehow taking the responsibility for what Archie had done in Kingston entirely unto himself. There was nothing Archie could do for that - the guilt was likely to haunt Horatio for the rest of his days - but at the very least Horatio could stop behaving as though he were made of glass. 

"Look." Taking his hand away, Archie tugged the corner of his shirt from his trousers, revealing the marred red skin on his right side where the bullet had hit and the surgeon had cut to retrieve it from the festering mess. "See how the wound's healed?" 

Eyes narrowing, Horatio peered down skeptically. He brought a finger to the mark, pressing gently as though to satisfy himself that it could no longer bleed or swell. Archie could not help but shiver at the touch, but Horatio did not seem to notice. He turned his head away after a moment. Perhaps he still could not bear to look. Yet he nodded to himself when he finally lowered his hand from the scar, acknowledging that the thing was merely that now, a scar. 

He sat for another moment in contemplative silence, his arms folded as he stared down at the clean shirt in his lap. Archie simply watched him, knowing that the ordeal of his wound had been hard on him. But soon enough Horatio regained control of himself, unfolding the shirt and straightening. 

"I've got to be on deck," he announced with clear regret in his voice. "I'll see you for supper." Getting to his feet, he managed to shake off some of the gravity or at least bury it like everything else, changing his tone to something faintly teasing. "Do I have your word that you won't attempt any more stunts?" 

Archie grinned, aware that he was in a position to make a bargain. He ran his tongue over his lips as Horatio reached up to tug the shirt down over his head. "None in the rigging." He raised an eyebrow pointedly. 

Horatio did not dare attempt to presume the final say in the matter, clearly learning from Archie's _disobedience_ this afternoon. Instead, he seemed to decide to pursue the smaller victory "Nothing strenuous at least?" 

"I'll keep perfectly still," Archie replied as sweetly as he could. 

This time, he received a genuinely naughty grin in response. "Now there's a prospect," Horatio muttered as he shrugged into his jacket. 

He did not bend down to kiss Archie before he left the cabin. He did not have to; the danger had taught them to do such things in glances. But after Horatio had seemingly caressed him with a weighted look as he stepped out Archie was left wondering who had given into whom. 

It did not matter. He had been promised _something_ after supper. Once Horatio saw that it caused no harm or pain he would give in to his own hungers for a little more.


End file.
